I set aside time each year not only for review of the previous 365 days but to plan for the next. It’s a great time to take stock of all that’s going on and to make adjustments for moving forward.

While my life goals have remained largely the same for the last ten plus years of doing this, I pursue them differently each year.

Chasing down big goals is a lot like driving on a long road trip. Your car turns north, then south; it drifts left, then right; it starts and stops.

It’s not a smooth process and neither is life. There are ups and downs. You stray from the path more than you’d like and reach the end of each year closer to some goals than others. Annual reviews are a great time to do this important task. (You can read my 2018 Year in Review here.)

I’ve set a few goals for 2019 in light of my annual review. I’ve listed five of them below.

1. Weekly Date Night with my bride. Few things are as important as loving my bride well. We won’t be the parents we need to be to our son without a strong relationship. We have to intentionally work on it and make it a priority. Strong relationships, especially with your spouse, don’t happen by accident. That’s why I’m setting the goal to have a date each week. Date Night is one of those things important enough prioritize and plan other things around.

2. Increase monthly giving by 5%. Our money isn’t ours. It’s given to us for a purpose, and that purpose is to glorify God. It’s His money. My wife and I want to improve at stewarding God’s money this year. Intentionally setting goals for increasing our giving is one change we’re making.

3. Memorize Romans 8. I have a poor history with Scripture memory. I do well at times and poorly at others. This year I’m working to memorize one chapter of Scripture. I want to memorize the great verses such as v.1, 16, 18, 26, 28-30, 33 within their proper context. Not as disconnected verses I could easily misuse. No matter the other verses I memorize this year, I want to hit this goal.

4. Meal Plan. I shared how this area is a struggle for me in my annual review. What to eat is the hardest decision I make each day. I have to do something about this in 2019. Enter the idea of meal planning. Each week I will cook some items in bulk to always have on hand for when hunger strikes.

5. Compete. I am chasing down several fitness goals this year and want to continue to push myself. Few things motivate and push me like competition. Training for a competition should bring many areas of my life into focus such as eating habits, and daily workouts. I am also hoping this will help my wife and I grow relationally as I am working to convince her to jump in with me!

Winging it rarely works. Life requires a destination. You can’t hit the targets you never set your sights on.

Where are you setting your sights this year? Where will you change? Where will you grow? How will you get there?